Travis Hunter will start by focusing on offense, be ready to play both ways by September

The Jaguars plan for rookie Travis Hunter to play both wide receiver and cornerback this season, but he’ll learn the ins and outs of the offense first.

Jaguars General Manager James Gladstone said that when Hunter is first getting up to speed the team plans to have him focus primarily on the offensive playbook, but they think he can be ready to play both ways when the season starts in a little over four months.

“His intent is on playing both sides of the ball, as is ours. When it comes to his onboarding process we’ll give him a heavy dose of offense, and sprinkle in the defensive side of the ball, knowing that by the time we get to the regular season, those should be balanced out. But that’s the initial onboarding plan as it stands today,” Gladstone said on ESPN.

Gladstone acknowledged that there’s not a roadmap for how to bring on a rookie and have him ready to start on both sides of the ball.

“This is uncharted territory,” Gladstone said.

But Hunter’s value as a potential two-way starter is why the Jaguars traded up for him, and they think he’ll be ready to do it from Week One.